| Members of the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guards, Maritime officials and police were up to nightfall yesterday still combing the rough waters of the Mazaruni River for the bodies of eight persons as hopes of finding them alive evaporated.A day after a horrific boat collision in the vicinity of Crab Falls, the search team cameMissing Ulric Grimes.up empty handed.Those believed to have perished are Ulric Grimes of Parika Salem, Zaheer Baksh, 35 of Caneville, East Bank Essequibo; Keanu Amsterdam and his brother Ricky Bobb, of Barr Street Kitty; Devon Moses, Frances Oliviero Alves, Christopher Narine and another man who has only been identified as ‘Tall Man’.So far the police have recovered the body of 24-year-old Jermaine Calistro.Several persons who were passengers in the two boats and who received injuries were treated at the Bartica Hospital and sent away.These survivors are listed as 40-year-old Francisca Helena Rodrigues, a Brazilian; 19-year-old Marion Ferrera of Parika; 29-year-old Aubrey Bowen, of Parika; 22-year-old Donita Daniels of Parika and Devon Thomas, one of the boat captains. The other boat captain has been identified as Kobesh Persaud.Rodrigues told this newspaper that she cannot really remember what happened.All she remembered was that she was sitting near the captain of one of the boats when the two vessels collided.She was hurled overboard and managed to hold on to a bucket until she was rescued.Meanwhile, one family from New Road Vreed-en-Hoop said they have been contacted in connection with Jermaine Calistro’s remains but they do not believe that the body is that of their relative.One woman who spoke to this publication said that she has a nephew by that name who works in the interior. However the woman said she has not heard from him since late December. She said that she received a call from someone in Bartica saying that her nephew was onboard the ill-fated vessel.Nevertheless the woman said that she will not definitively say it’s her nephew until she is able to view the remains.Penny Grimes, the wife of Ulric Grimes, told this publication that she is still hopeful that her husband is alive. Mrs. Grimes said her husband left their Parika-Salem home on Monday for the Puruni and last spoke to her on Tuesday around noon.“He call and say he leaving to go in. That was the last I hear from he but about 4:30 hours we get a call saying that the boat he go up with get into ah accident and that he missing.”The woman said that another man who was onboard the same vessel with her husband related to other villagers what transpired.“Terrence tell the pastor that they were going up and a fuel boat was coming around a turn and crash into them but he (Terrence) hold onto a drum and he was rescued,” Mrs. Grimes related.Missing Zaheer BaskhThe woman said that her husband has been working in the interior for one year but would come home to his family every three weeks.“We believe in God and we are hoping for the best; we hope he is alive”.Over at Caneville, Grove, East Bank Demerara another family is hoping that their breadwinner is alive and well.Sarswatie Charran said that she is hopeful that her husband, Zaheer Baksh, will return home. The woman told this publication that her husband left for the interior about a week ago.“(On Tuesday) one ah he friend call and tell me how he went in a accident he say that me husband missing.”Charran said that some relatives have travelled to Bartica to assist with the search for her husband. Up to press time yesterday the woman said that there was no word of Baksh or the other missing persons.And the relatives of Keanu and his brother Rickey have joined the search for the two men who worked in the interior as mechanics.Relatives said that they received a call early yesterday morning that the two men were involved in a boat accident and are missing.“We were expecting them to come out yesterday because they father bring the vehicle at the shop and leave it because he too was expecting them to come out,” an aunt identified as Sharon told this publication.Public Works Minister Robeson Benn, around mid morning, yesterday, led a team back into Region Seven as he sought to get first hand information on the horrific accident.Initial reports are that one boat carrying passengers was coming out of the river while another laden with fuel was heading into the river. The incident occurred at a ‘blind turn’ in the vicinity of Crab Falls. Minister Benn had reported that the two boats,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, with 12 passengers and another with nine collided at around 12:30 hours on Tuesday.Just over a month ago, on December 18, last, six people including three children perished in the Pomeroon River under similar circumstances.On that fateful night, a speedboat owned by the Region Two administration struck the small vessel in which the victims were travelling.Eyewitnesses said that the Region Two vessel, which was occupied by several regional officials, was heading out of Siriki, in the Upper Pomeroon, when it “rode over” a smaller boat, which then crashed into a large mangrove swamp.Those who perished were boat captain Harrinarine Bhagwandin, 42; Velda Rodrigues, 50; Shawn Anthony, 14; Rajkumar Singh, 14 and his sister Amrita Singh, 10; and Vincent Singh, 42.Maritime officials and others from the search party during the search yesterday in the Mazaruni River. |
